Relatively Insignificant Events That Changed Your Life Forever

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else's reply, whatever you want. Very casual. On to this week's topics of discussion...

1. If not for an octogenarian biochemistry professor's deteriorating motor skills, I would not have met my wife.

When the man slammed into my Mercury Sable (not pictured) in 2001, it set off a chain of events that led to a wedding, a dog, a baby, and multiple weekend trips to Bed Bath & Beyond. Another variable that played a role: me thinking the Enterprise Rent-a-Car employee's "You want the truck?" question meant the big black Suburban, not the smallish, pinkish pickup hidden behind it. This was important, because when Duke was getting blown out by Wake Forest that Saturday and the crowd migrated to the parking lot, the back of that smallish, pinkish pickup truck was a logical place to congregate. A friend of hers was dating a friend of mine, so she was obligated to talk to me. All thanks to a man who probably shouldn't have been driving. What's a relatively insignificant event that changed your life forever?

2. One of our most popular posts from 2008 was Sara Newton's look at literature's most desirable leading men. If you want to weigh in on that debate, leave a comment under that post. But for our purposes, I'll ask a different question. What character from a book would you most like to spend a weekend with?

3. I think I asked this question last year, but I'll ask again—did you ever participate in 'Take Your Daughter/Son to Work Day,' either as a child or parent?

4.Did your college have any unique graduation traditions the rest of us should know about? Full disclosure: we might be doing a post on this around graduation time, so you're being used as cheap (free!) labor.